Flood Scheme (OFAS) latest
The OFAS is a large project proposed by the Environment Agency to
reduce flood risk in Oxford. It would be a series of flood defences,
culverts, new bridges etc, plus a controversial 5km long channel from
north of Botley Road to south of the Old Abingdon Road. Everyone
agrees that flood alleviation is a good thing, but there is strong
disagreement on the channel component of the scheme, which would
involve digging up large areas of meadow between North and South
Hinksey over three years, and moving the spoil away, mostly from South
Hinksey onto the A34. https://consult.environment-
agency.gov.uk/thames/oxfordscheme/ gives more information.
The Environment Agency (EA) argues that the channel is necessary for
water to flow in the right direction in a controlled manner. Opponents
argue that the channel hydrology is unproven, and that the channel would
protect few additional homes at a very large environmental and social
cost.
The OFAS requires a lot of land that landowners don’t want to sell to the
EA, so the EA is having to serve Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) on
those plots of land. A three-week CPO inquiry will take place in
November, with a pre-inquiry meeting in late September. The EA’s CPO
documents are available at https://consult.environment-
agency.gov.uk/thames/ofas-updates/. Separately, probably after the
CPO inquiry, Oxfordshire County Council will decide whether to approve
the planning application for the OFAS.
Full disclosure: I am anti-channel, though definitely not against flood
protection. My previous Sprout articles have discussed some of the
channel’s main impacts: digging up much of the irreplaceable Hinksey
Meadow, potentially drying out the rest of the meadow, stopping
recreational access to many local fields etc. Here are two other points
which have only come out recently.
First, most of the soil excavated to make the channel is expected to be
moved onto the A34 at South Hinksey. The next time you travel past
South Hinksey, have a look at the slip-roads that those heavy lorries
carrying a full load of soil are supposed to use: they are so short that the
lorries will be going less than 10 miles per hour (mph) by the time they
have to move into the A34. The slip roads are way, way shorter than any
new road junction would be allowed to be, as you can see from the photo.